Wrap Up: A Year of Parisiens

The Plus Revisits Constantin Mashinskiy’s 365 Parisiens Project as it Draws to a Close

‘Portrait number 100 was an important milestone,’ Paris based photographer Constantin Mashinskiy told us about his series which comprised of taking photographs of everyday Parisians, for each day of 2014. ‘Portrait 100 helped me to realise the fact that I’d already done 100 pictures and I would be able to finish the series.’

The plus chatted with Constantin a couple of months ago, about his processes, whilst he was still knee-deep, in the midst of it all. And now at portrait number 361, the blog is very close to featuring its final image. After garnering lots of attention and fans for his work, it looks like a 365 Parisiens exhibition, and/or book might be on the horizon. We managed to catch up with Constantin for a quick debrief:

The Plus: What is the key element you’d like to always keep in your portrait photography?
Constantin Mashinskiy: I would like to keep the street-documentary style as the key element, and I prefer shooting real people in common places, like the street. So I’m not too interested in studio and events photography for the future.

TP: What was the most challenging thing throughout the whole process?
CM: It wasn’t easy to combine this project with my job. Sometimes I had so much work that I barely had time to go out and shoot, but I forced myself to do it everyday. The weather and the light was also sometimes challenging; it’s harder to meet people on the street and get a good picture when it’s dark and raining for example.

TP: What are your feelings about the projects coming to an end?
CM: I’m feeling really happy; it was a beautiful experience full of unexpected meetings, funny situations and interesting people. I even made good friends thanks to this initiative. On the other hand, it’s a bit sad to stop taking portraits of strangers, so I will definitely continue to shoot them from time to time.